Staff Reports
Fani Willis, the Fulton County District Attorney, is feeling the heat after a Georgia judge issued a ruling that puts her office in the spotlight for uncooperative behavior regarding public records. This saga unfolded when Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group that seems to specialize in keeping political officials honest, filed a lawsuit demanding access to communications between Willis, Special Counsel Jack Smith, and the House January 6 Committee. Spoiler alert: the judge was not on Willis’s side.
Judge Robert McBurney of the Fulton County Superior Court handed down a ruling after Willis’s office failed to properly respond to Judicial Watch’s open records request promptly. Instead of simply following the law, Willis’s team opted for radio silence, which resulted in the court issuing a default judgment against her. The judge made it clear that she had five days to comply with state open records laws—no pressure.
Fulton County Superior Court Finds Fani Willis in Default!
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Back in March 2024, Judicial Watch lodged a lawsuit against Willis, accusing her of not playing fair with the Georgia Open Records Act. They pursued records believed to detail dealings with Jack Smith, who has been knee-deep in the federal investigations surrounding January 6. In a plot twist worthy of a daytime soap opera, Willis’s office claimed no records existed, only to have the judge set the record straight.
It seems missed deadlines were the rule of the day for Willis, who failed to submit a response even after being correctly served with the lawsuit on March 11, 2024. An attempt by her office to blame court docket confusion for the delays fell flat, as the judge ruled that negligence was the real culprit. The court made it plain: Fani Willis was in default, and her claims were now under scrutiny.
The drama thickens with an allegation about a December 2021 letter Willis sent to then-House January 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, where she expressed a willingness to cooperate. This correspondence suggests a deeper level of engagement with federal actors than previously acknowledged—quite the plot twist for someone claiming their office had no relevant records. Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch, pointed out that the spotlight is on Willis for potentially colluding with the partisan January 6 Committee in a bid to “get Trump.” He underscored the significance of this ruling, reiterating that they’ve never seen a government official found in default for ignoring an open records lawsuit—step aside, world records, there’s a new contender.
As the clock ticks down for Willis’s office to produce the requested documents, the pressure on her grows. This ruling arrives at a time when she’s already under intense scrutiny for leading the high-profile case against the former President and others related to the aftermath of Georgia’s 2020 election. Willis’s quest for justice is turning into a legal circus, and all eyes are on what shenanigans she may attempt next to keep the truth under wraps. It’s hard to imagine what’s next in this unfolding drama, but one thing is crystal clear: the more she resists, the more questions arise.
